Do you know how to ruin a perfectly (or even potentially) good wine? It’s easy. Don’t drink it.

Back in May of 2006, we won a large Sauvignon Blanc wine "competition." We came home with several cases of various Sauvignon Blanc, mostly low-end, inexpensive bottles. However, we suffer from the not-too-awful problem of having more wine available than we can drink – and we seem to keep buying more! The better wines have an easy life. They make it into the wine coolers and live on their sides at the right temperature. Then there are these Sauvignon Blancs, which have been sitting at the bottom of wine racks shoved into any non-sunny available space. We’re now trying to work our way through these wines. There really aren’t that many left – at this point, maybe 4 bottles.

Last week we had to dump 4 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc. It was all the 2004 vintage of bottles that we think cost $8 or less. Each was far past its peak. Tonight we dumped two Trinchero Family Sauvignon Blancs. The first was a 2004 vintage that still had the price tag on it of $8.99. It tasted sour and somehow wrong. The second one, a 2005 of the same wine, tasted thick in the mouth and sour.

So really, in order to enjoy a wine you need to drink it. Don’t just let it hang out at the bottom of your wine rack.

And now for the good stuff …In order to counteract our sad experience with Sauvignon Blancs, we popped open a 2005 Ledson Chardonnay from Mendocino County. I believe we paid around $30 for it, as we recieved it in a case shipment from their wine club. While it definitely has buttery and oaky characteristics, there is also subtle and enjoyable fruit. You can definitely pick up some apple and the pear lingers on the finish. The wine is well-balanced and complex. I am not normally a fan of California chardonnays, but this one is quite drinkable. It’s not a full happy face though, as I would have guessed it at around $20-$22, not $32.

5 Responses to “How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Wine”

Is there a general rule on how long you should/can let whites hang out? It should be noted that most bottles don’t last terribly long in our house anyway, but I’ve always wondered what the general policy is. I also tend to buy cheaper bottles, so this entry further convinces me to just drink them.
Oh, and did you see this?: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/06/08/genuine.wine.ap/index.html

Ledson was the first winery we stopped at when we visited Sonoma last summer. I don’t remember the chardonnay, but we did like the sauv blanc…
How many wine clubs are you in? I’m in one local wine club…but think I want to join a couple non-NY clubs.